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Welcome to Kicking the Seat!

Ian Simmons launched Kicking the Seat in 2009, one week after seeing Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. His wife proposed blogging as a healthier outlet for his anger than red-faced, twenty-minute tirades (Ian is no longer allowed to drive home from the movies).

The Kicking the Seat Podcast followed three years later and, despite its “undiscovered gem” status, Ian thoroughly enjoys hosting film critic discussions, creating themed shows, and interviewing such luminaries as Gaspar NoéRachel BrosnahanAmy Seimetz, and Richard Dreyfuss.

Ian is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He also has a family, a day job, and conflicted feelings about referring to himself in the third person.

Ep1160: Good Boy (2025) - Movie Review

Ep1160: Good Boy (2025) - Movie Review

Today, Ian and Mark sniff out the good, the bad, and the ghastly with Ben Leonberg's Good Boy!

The offbeat supernatural thriller centers on Indy, a loyal and lovable dog whose owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), has taken him along to a secluded family cabin. Over several days, Indy sees and hears (and dreams!) menacing, otherworldly things lurking in shadows and the overcast woods.

Is something trying to possess his master? And what's with the other dog that keeps popping up, the creepy one with the red bandana tied around its neck?

Good Boy is a bold exercise that presents a horror movie from (more or less) a dog's point of view. But is form and style enough to carry a spooky genre film--or do Leonberg and co-writer Alex Cannon need more...training?

Find out what the guys think in this spoilerific review!

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Ep1161: Are We Good? (2025) - Movie Review

Ep1161: Are We Good? (2025) - Movie Review

Ep1159: Hell of a Western: Interviews with Killing Faith Star DeWanda Wise and Writer/Director Ned Crowley

Ep1159: Hell of a Western: Interviews with Killing Faith Star DeWanda Wise and Writer/Director Ned Crowley